For several years now the “West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre” has been staged in Hong Kong’s future cultural hub West Kowloon Cultural District. Several events featuring mainly Cantonese operas (which used bamboo for building stages in the old days and the event hence is titled “Bamboo Theatre”) along with some contemporary music and Chinese dance.

Since 2012, this huge bamboo theatres have sprung up each year in West Kowloon in time for the Chinese New Year period. This theatres have about 800-seats and take just some weeks to be constructed. A bamboo theatre is just a temporary structure designed using traditional and modern architectural designs. Ten specialist bamboo craftsman use kind of 10,000 bamboo poles to build the theatres.

Having a chat under actors

Each year extremely popular xiqu (Chinese opera) performances are shown on stage. At the usual area the bamboo theatre had been staged there is the construction of the new Xiqu Centre going on. The Xiqu Centre will be part of the 40 hectare West Kowloon Cultural District. The precinct, built on reclaimed land, will also include 23 hectares of public open space, museums, art galleries, and exhibition centres.

Bamboo theatre and Cantonese Opera are linked over hundred of years together and having the opportunity to get a glimpse behind the scenes was a rare chance I greedily took. There are so many different things to see and to capture for documenting purposes. Here some images I took in spring this year.

I'm into Cantonese Opera since - actually I can't remember as it has been such a long time. I took up to know hundreds of images of different behind the stage views as well as many images on the stage. I'm still collecting, sorting out and trying to get the best images front up as well a concise story about Cantonese Opera.

At my last visit in Hong Kong I was able to meet and to interview Mr. Ng Chin-feng one very prominent member and actor of Cantonese Opera. As I was sorting out the pictures taken lately I came upon one image of him as he prepared his stage make up for the act in the play: "Two Heroic Families" which he played at the West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre in February.

Suddenly I was struck by an idea. As I interviewed him he was talking about different aspects of Cantonese Opera, his journey in this art and his dedication. I was imagining how deep he was influenced by the Cantonese Opera and how in return he influenced the opera on his terms.

hundreds of images are to be turned into a portrait

Seeing all the images I took in front of me, and there will be as usual a lot which don't see the light of the internet, I imagined how full Mr. Ng is of Cantonese Opera if it is possible to say so and I decided to show this in an image.

how to do it - how to show his determination about this art? As I look t my screen i got the idea. Why not just use the hundreds of my images to creat a portrait of him. Thought and done.

Dramatic scene not only in the Bamboo Theatre. (West Kowloon Water Front)

This February 2014 was again a time to enjoy some Cantonese Opera pieces at the Bamboo Theatre in Hong Kong. Everything was organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department in accordance with the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority. I had the opportunity to meet a well known actor, going behind the curtain, getting an interview and obtaining even more insight in this kind of Chinese heritage.

The heritage of Cantonese Opera is undoubtedly rich. The long and unique tradition as a performing art have met different demands over time. The Cantonese Opera artefacts and pieces has never been systematically collected and preserved. There are now some Museums especially in Hong Kong with the intent to preserve this invaluable heritage. Here some images of one of the popular performances.

Hong Kong a metropolis of high rises and a commercial hub
this is often associated when you ask foreigners about Hong Kong. Most of them
don’t associate it immediately with performing arts and arts in general. But
this has changed in the last years. The yearly arts fair and the Arts Festival
in Hong Kong have changed this a lot. This is a significant growing part and
Cantonese Opera is part of this cultural landscape.

Regardless of the different and well received western
troupes coming to Hong Kong its culture and heritage remains Chinese
nevertheless. One of the most obvious is the Cantonese Opera which has had a
revival lately.

Cantonese Opera derives from China’s earliest folk theatres,
music and dance like Kun Qu Opera as one of the oldest. Cantonese Opera and its
actors, especially the singing performers present the stories in form of music
and dance. The stories and plots were mostly developed during Yuan and Ming
Dynasty. This kind of Opera can be divided in different types: Cantonese Opera,
Beijing Opera, Chiu Chow Opera etc.

The different kind of Operas undergoes intensive training to
get a high pitched falsetto. Apart from this they need skills in gesturing and
movements, which are important as well. These movements include mime, dance
action, sword play and acrobatics.

The costumes are a vital part of the Cantonese Opera. The
costumes are exaggerated and are for an enhanced theatrical effect. The actors
wear embroidered and elaborate robes and headdresses. The shoes are very high,
kind of platform shoes. The costumes are in different colors, which represent
divers ranks, status and personalities. To give you one example the color
yellow are for emperors the color purple would be for me – a barbarian.

Applying make-up for Cantonese opera is a long and specialized process.
One of the most common styles is painting the face white and red. White
foundation and red color around the eyes are blended to fade down to the
bottom of the cheeks. Eyebrows are painted black and sometimes
elongated in a shape similar to the eyes of a Chinese phoenix. Lipstick
is usually bright red.

The Hong Kong government has promised to promote Cantonese opera even more
by providing more training venues and introducing the traditional art
form as well in schools. The UNESCO recognition had
encouraged the government the increase of funding as
well.

The complex social environment in which the actors of the
Cantonese Opera had found themselves had significant influences on the reform
of the Opera itself. Guangzhou was the first city to be opened to foreign trade
and as well the base of some new key politicians and reformers such as Kang
Youwei and Dr. Sun Yat-sen, both revolutionary at their time. This time of challenging social
upheaval inspired the artists to new forms of themes and forms in the again
growing of Cantonese Opera. New scripts were written to discuss this new
ideologies and as well the social inflictions.

At the same time the introduction of modern drama and the
development in opera music accelerated the process of change in Cantonese
Opera. The outstanding effort and performance of a few artists led to the
effect, that the Cantonese language became the dominant theatrical language
used in this kind of opera.

All was going well but economic times weren’t as good. The
troupes did a significant change in this period and reduced the casting of
roles to be used. Before there had been at last “Ten pillars” which were cut
down to “six pillars”to minimize
the cost of the troupes. This new “six pillars” were composed of a principal
male role, a principal female role, a supporting male role, a comedian role and
last but not least a martial role.

All this ended with the second World War and the Japanese
troops after 20 years when Hong Kong and Guangdong were occupied by Japanese
troops. To pacify the people and to create a peaceful atmosphere the Japanese encouraged
the Cantonese Opera artists to continue their performances. Censorship playing
under Japanese occupation or playing in other parts of China under threat of
bombing at this times were the two solutions given.

This kind of dark age ended in 1945 and the development of
the Opera began anew but slightly different in Hong Kong and Guangdong.

Male and female make-up process is basically the same,
except that feminine beauty is emphasized.

At the beginning of the twentieth century the Cantonese
Opera artists were heavily made up with crude cosmetics. Beginning since 1930s
this have been improved by borrowing techniques from Beijing Opera and Western
drama and movies. Artificial hair is used in different ways. Everything
intended to beautify and making it more natural. At the same time cosmetics of
better quality gradually became available.

Part two

As described in my last article there have been difficult
times for all troupes in Cantonese Opera. Some of the information could be
regained by searching old local gazettes. One of this has been the Local
Gazette of Panyu County by Ding Renchang. As described in this historic
references most troupe members lived in pairs of Red Boats and they adhered to
straight rules and norms which as well where a conduct and life style of the
members. I didn’t find any photograph of this time nor seems there to be
paintings. If you go to one of the museums handling this area you will find
some reconstructing they have done on recount of old members of this time. This
Red Boats where self sufficient entities indeed.

This gloomy time of Cantonese Opera came to an end in the Tongshi reign (1862
-1874) as the viceroy for the provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi successfully
got a consent of the imperial court to lift the ban on performances. As the
former leading guild, the Lotus Guild, had been destroyed a new guild and new
headquarters where build in Guangzhou and started to be the new centre of
Cantonese Opera.

Many of the performers had been acting in different troupes
especially in Beijing troupes, but they had not forgotten their old artistic
techniques and brought on top new inspirations. This gave the reform of the
Cantonese Opera a significant push. At the same time Guangzhou was one of the
early cities opened to foreign trade and attracted as well politicians like Dr.
Sun Yat-sen and Kang Youwei with their new ideas.

The challenging environment inspired the troupes to new
themes and new forms of Cantonese Opera. New scripts often reflected and
discussed social evils and part of new ideologies.

Nowadays many people think
that Cantonese Opera only reflects old stories of the past, but there are as
well some signs of introducing once again new themes and modern influences into
this ever changing form of theatre.

As I already stated Cantonese Opera can be characterized as
well with its readiness to adopt different elements in the repertoire. I think
one could see it as a form of artistic expression as well as an adaption to
social circumstances. There are certainly different influences from internal
developments of artists as well as external influences like politics, economic
and social developments as well as changing audiences and changing values of
the entertainment industry.

sunmoonstar preview

Cantonese Opera is a theatrical form that engulfed all
Cantonese speaking regions even as it used “Guilin mandarin” in the early
stages. The music heavily borrowed from Waijang troupes using styles of Bangzi
and Erhuang enriching it with Guangdong songs and instrumental music forms.
Early Cantonese Opera artists used the southern boxing style in their martial
art adaptions.

As names of this style of opera are concerned the title of
Cantonese Opera can be found beginning in the late 19th century but
the history of this theatre style can be traced back much farther to the
Jiajing reign period (1522 – 1566) of the Ming Dynasty. At this time it was to
my knowledge called Waijiang Opera and scholars have found that they already
had integrated Cantonese phrases in their lyrics. It is believed that Foshan in
Guangdong province had been the centre of Cantonese Opera at this time.

The other well known troupes called Bendi where not
established as much in the cities but along the Pearl River in boats and
smaller villages. During Ming and the following Qing dynasty this two forms
mixed and interacted more closely. Economy at that time had been started to
thrive and performances at festivals, celebrations and religious activities
where the main reason for the good development of Cantonese Opera.

Going back in history of Cantonese Opera you reach the
timeframe of 1849 to 1864 with the Taiping Rebellion. At this time the court of
China banned all performances of Cantonese Opera due to the fact that some of
the ators had been found guilty in actively participating in the Rebellion.
Actors and Cantonese Opera survived in participating in other theatres
especially in Bejing troupes but a lot of information got lost in this time.

Luckily some information could be regained as it had been
described in some local gazettes and some of the actors passed their knowledge
from teacher to student. This gloomy period ended in the Tongshi reign.

But enough of old times – more will follow later.

There will
be up and downs in the upcoming history as in every form of art and even nowadays has been some
downsides and some better times as well. Just now is a time for Cantonese Opera
to be recognized much more and apart from the Hong Kong Government there are
Organisations like “The Cantonese Advancement Association Ltd., Shatin” which has been founded three years
ago and helps in further developing Cantonese Opera and especially supporting
young children and groups to get a better knowledge of this old and historical
founded Chinese art form.

They gave me a chance to have a look behind the scene
getting the painted faces done as well as offering a possibility to see and
document a great performance in March this year. I like to share some of the
images I took at this opportunity.

All images taken by courtesy of Cantonese Opera Advancement Association

Due to different regional variations there are and have been many different forms of theaters in China. Each of this form is serving a certain locality. One major form of the southern Chinese theater is Cantonese Opera which can be found in the provinces of Guangzhou, Guangxi, Macau and last but not least in Hong Kong.